Entre a doença e a cura: o tratamento da sífilis na Europa no século XVI

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the medical and intellectual panorama of 16th-century Europe, a period marked by the transition between Hippocratic-Galenic medicine and the reevaluation of traditional knowledge. The research focuses on the analysis of the first treatments for syphilis, then known as the "French disease," highlighting the use of mercury and guaiacum. The epidemic manifestation of syphilis represented a health crisis that challenged the validity of humoral medicine, accelerating the search for new diagnostic and cure strategies. The central research question is: How did the medical and moral justifications of the 16th century legitimize the use of mercury and guaiacum in the treatment of syphilis, and what were their real impacts on patients? The methodology employed is bibliographic and documentary research, based on the analysis of the historiography of medicine and primary sources from the 16th century, such as medical treatises and personal accounts. Initially, the Hippocratic-Galenic scenario, the conception of disease, and the moral stigma associated with syphilis were explored, which viewed it as divine punishment and linked it to immorality. Finally, it was observed that mercurial treatment, despite causing severe intoxication with symptoms like excessive salivation, tooth loss, and neurological damage, was seen as a necessary purging of "corrupt humors." Guaiacum, promoted as a natural cure from the New World, offered a regimen of purging by sweating, considered a less aggressive and morally redemptive alternative. It was concluded that both therapies were understood not only as physical interventions but as rituals of penance, where the patient's suffering was interpreted as expiation for the sin of lust, revealing the profound interaction between medical knowledge, religious beliefs, and social values during the Renaissance.